Paulo Coehlo,Emily Dickinson and the destiny of words

Paulo Coehlo and Emily Dickinson are two of the world’s great writers who have inspired me to adopt a certain philosophy about writing, life and destiny. I believe:

Our words are powerful beyond our understanding.

It’s also important to know that you don’t have to be a great speaker or writer for your words to have a lasting impact on the world. There is a destiny for our words and life that is bigger than we are, and we cannot truly know that lasting destiny in our life time.

This belief allows me to relax into the sometimes frightening, often daunting journey of being a writer. With this faith, I published my first journal book Writing Your Destiny a few weeks ago trusting that it would find its “right” audience on Amazon and Kindle, and that my workshops and videos planned for October will attract who they are meant to attract. My task is to give my best effort to my writing, coaching or anything else I do, and allow something bigger than myself to do its magic through me.

My love and affinity for Paulo Coehlo’s philosophy and writing began when I read his beautiful book, The Alchemist. My favorite passage in that book is where an angel meets a father from Roman times who has died and come to heaven, and is inquiring about the ongoing success and fame of his son, a successful poet. The father discovers that it is NOT the words of his son the poet that endure through the ages, but the words of his other son, a humble centurion working at an outpost far away from Rome who asks Jesus to heal one of his servants, and says words that are read and repeated for thousands of years. This short nugget of a story within a story continues to influence me. As someone who wants to write “great” stories and inspirational books, it’s humbling to know that my work may or may not be a lasting help to others.

Another inspiration for detaching from the outcome of our writing is Emily Dickinson, the famous American poet. The other day I was reading her famous words:

We never know high we are

Till we are called to rise;

And then, if we are true to plan,

Our statures touch the sky.

It occurred to me that she had no actual “we” in her life. No twitter followers, no Facebook, no six figure book deals. Few people in her day even knew that she wrote poems except her limited circle. I found myself wondering did she know there would be a WE reading her words over a hundred years after her death in 1886? I suspect she wrote because she had to write, and her highest destiny called to her and gave her the strength and passion to write poetry that still speaks to us.

If it’s part of your life’s calling, find a way to write your destiny.

Yet, remember you don’t have to write your words for them to be powerful. Like the centurion from The Alchemist, stay awake to the miracles you encounter in your life.

May you know that your words are powerful and that you can be a source of goodness in the world. Be the highest expression of who you are called to be today, and amazing gifts will come to you. Share the simple truth and love that wants to speak through you. You never know how your words might change the world!

P.S.: Wondrously enough, and I’m not making this up, yesterday, I got an email from Brendon Burchard asking me if I would like to receive a free copy of Paulo Coehlo’s new book, The Aleph, immediately after I had just finished writing the rough draft of this blog post about Paulo Coehlo. Talk about the power of words! All I can say, is that the world is connected in awe-inspiring, mysterious ways. I knew then that I had to publish this post so that the right someone would read them.